Science can only blossom if young researchers are rewarded for acquired skills and growth rather than inherited academic ancestry.

Will a match catch fire when it scratches against the rugged matchbox wall? Knowing the answer is of paramount importance if we want to collect useful matches in our box. One way to find out is to try them all. The only problem with this approach is that by the time we will know the answer, the burnt matches will be of no value. The challenge is how to select useful matches reliably in advance? Putting this challenge into an academic context, how can we select a cohort of promising scientists before they have made their discoveries? This is the fundamental challenge of academic planning. Prestigious universities are plagued by past hirings which led to ‘duds’ or ‘dead wood’, namely faculty who when hired were labeled as geniuses with great promise but in retrospect, decades later, had little impact on the progress of science. At the same time, some of their contemporaries who were not endorsed by prominent scientists and hence moved to faculty positions at lesser schools, carried the day. Without mentioning names, suffice it to say that this is a familiar occurrence. Why is this phenomenon so prevalent?

Nobel Prize-Winning biologist Tim Hunt was in the news a lot this past week for some comments he made at the World Conference for Science Journalists in South Korea. His remarks were not recorded, but the journalists developed a "post-hoc transcript," including the following gem:

“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls,” he reportedly said. “You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry!”

After that, Dr. Hunt issued an "apology," including such quintessential non-apologies as: "I'm really, really sorry I caused any offence, that's awful. I certainly didn't mean that. I just meant to be honest, actually."

1. Those who suffer from imposter syndrome, especially those that are unaware of what it is, or that it is common and fixable 2. Their colleagues, teachers, mentors, supervisors (i.e. those covered by #1, and everybody else!)

Imposter syndrome is so common in our profession, we will all be better off if it is widely understood and appreciated, both because those with it can deal with it and those that support them can do so better.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that not only are women struggling to get ahead in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields, but women of color are disproportionately impacted by bias and prejudice in the workplace.

The study’s authors—Joan C. Williams, Kathrine W. Phillips and Erika V. Hall—worked with the Association of Women in Science to survey 557 female scientists and interview 60 of them to gain insight into how bias impacts them on a daily basis. Their findings support the growing theory that the low numbers of women working in STEM fields isn’t solely due to a lack of candidates in the pipeline or even women who choose other careers that they feel will allow for better work-life balance. The results made it quite clear that there are five distinct issues that push women out of the field: Having to constantly prove competence, needing to be “feminine enough,” having their commitment questioned when they have children, encountering manufactured competition between women, and being socially isolated.

Releasing the diversity demographics of your technical workforce is important for stimulating open conversation and measuring efforts to increase diversity in your organization. These tips will help you plan the release of this data and take follow-up steps to implement meaningful change efforts toward increasing diversity.